The Elder Dempster steam ship S.S. Burutu sank on 3rd October 1918 with heavy loss of life.
Due to the fact that the ship was not sunk by enemy action, very few of those on board were eligible for a war grave or commemoration on a memorial.
I have compiled lists of casualties and survivors from the passengers and crew from a variety of sources, survivors from a list published in The Times on 8th October 1918, passenger casualties from the official Dead Passengers list for October 1918, crew casualties from the Roll of Honour in the book Elder Dempster 1914-1918 cross checked with the Deaths at Sea index.
There are varied accounts of the number of lives lost in this tragedy so it is difficult to know exactly how many people died,
7th October 1918 (4 days after the tragedy) The Times reported 35 lives were lost.
8th October 1918 (5 days after the tragedy) The Times reported that the casualty list was expected to be 170-200, this article also carried a list of names of 22 surviving passengers and 22 surviving crew members.
31st May 1919 (almost 8 months after the tragedy) The Times reported on the inquiry into the tragedy, this report stated that there were 148 passengers and 98 crew on board and 'about 160' lives lost.
Click here to open the SS Burutu page on wrecksite for more information about the ship and where it sank
Due to the fact that the ship was not sunk by enemy action, very few of those on board were eligible for a war grave or commemoration on a memorial.
I have compiled lists of casualties and survivors from the passengers and crew from a variety of sources, survivors from a list published in The Times on 8th October 1918, passenger casualties from the official Dead Passengers list for October 1918, crew casualties from the Roll of Honour in the book Elder Dempster 1914-1918 cross checked with the Deaths at Sea index.
There are varied accounts of the number of lives lost in this tragedy so it is difficult to know exactly how many people died,
7th October 1918 (4 days after the tragedy) The Times reported 35 lives were lost.
8th October 1918 (5 days after the tragedy) The Times reported that the casualty list was expected to be 170-200, this article also carried a list of names of 22 surviving passengers and 22 surviving crew members.
31st May 1919 (almost 8 months after the tragedy) The Times reported on the inquiry into the tragedy, this report stated that there were 148 passengers and 98 crew on board and 'about 160' lives lost.
Click here to open the SS Burutu page on wrecksite for more information about the ship and where it sank
My Taid (grandfather) was awarded a gold medal by the passengers for the action between Burutu and the U-Boat off Monrovia. I have no details what he did or how many others of the crew received a similar "award". His name was Edward Jones and I have the medal.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic piece of family history to own! Have you tried looking through the newspapers from his home-town? they often ran stories about special awards like this.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting the article about the sinking of the Burutu. My granddad was one of those killed in this tragedy. My Mum(aged one) and grandma had travelled from Dorset to Liverpool to meet my granddad, a Swiss national by the name of Robert Hodel, a ship's steward. My mum never got to know her father.
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